Known as Hassengers Corner Road, the state highway runs 2.48 miles (3.99 km) from MD 213 at Hassengers Corner north to MD 298 in Lynch in central Kent County.

MD 561 begins at an intersection with MD 213 (Augustine Herman Highway) at Hassengers Corner, a crossroads hamlet between Chestertown and Kennedyville.

The two-lane undivided highway heads north to the unincorporated village of Lynch, where it intersects the Chestertown Branch of the Northern Line of the Maryland and Delaware Railroad.

North of the railroad, MD 561 reaches its northern terminus at MD 298 (Lambs Meadow Road).

[1][2] MD 561 was constructed as a macadam road by 1933.